Cornwallis store may get lease on life

Shopper June Hewey leaves the Cornwallis Valufoods store Tuesday. Annapolis County council agreed at committee of the whole to extend the lease for 90 days and attempt to negotiate a fair contract with the independent grocer to prevent it from closing Dec. 1. (GORDON DELANEY / Valley Bureau)

ANNAPOLIS ROYAL — There may be a future for the Valufood grocery store in Cornwallis that goes beyond Dec. 1.

Annapolis County council voted in its committee of the whole meeting Tuesday to extend the store’s lease for up to 90 days and begin negotiations in the hopes of reaching an agreement that would allow the store to remain open.

The motion was carried unanimously, but must still be approved by council at a meeting later this month.

The vote came after Cathy Graves, the store’s owner, asked council to renegotiate the lease.

“We want to continue to do business in the county but not at a loss,” Graves told the meeting.

Graves’ landlord is the county, which owns the Basinview Centre. She received a notice last month that her rent would increase fivefold from the current $500 the business now pays.

“It’s taken us three and a half years to build a business there … but the sales don’t warrant that much of an increase in rent,” she told councillors.

She previously said the store would close on Dec. 1 unless it received a break in the rent and the store’s 12 employees would lose their jobs.

Prior to Tuesday’s meeting, county officials said the county has been giving the business a break for years, but the Municipal Government Act requires it to charge fair market value for the county-owned buildings that it leases.

“When the county gets in the business of leasing property, it gets real tricky,” Coun. Gregory Heming, a new member of council, said during Tuesday’s meeting

He noted that other area businesses were struggling but were not being subsidized by county taxpayers.

However, Coun. Alex Morrison, who represents the Cornwallis area, said it was “the desire of the community to have this asset continue.”

As proof, he pointed to an Oct. 24 meeting where about 300 people threw their support behind the grocery store, the only one located between Annapolis Royal and Digby.

“We do need the store there,” said Coun. Brian (Fuzzy) Connell.

The grocery store is the anchor business of the Basinview Centre, which also includes the new Fundy YMCA.

The area has suffered many job losses following the closure of the military training base in 1995, including Shaw Wood, Ikea and the Convergys call centre.

Graves hopes the two sides can reach a reasonable agreement, but asked that the negotiations not take place in public.

Morrison and Heming were appointed to the negotiating committee.

Meanwhile, there was a steady stream of shoppers entering the grocery store Tuesday.

“I stop here every week,” said June Hewey, who lives near Bear River.

“They have a lot of good specials. I like their products and I like their bakery. We’re in an area that’s really hurting. … I’d be really disappointed if it closed.”